Another old fic dug up and retouched! This is in the aftermath of 'The Girl Who Waited', S06E10. Somehow I always felt that it ended too soon, that there were things to be discussed that didn't make screen time. So, here you are. The consequences of all that happened on the lovely-sounding planet of Appalappachia.

You could rewatch the episode if you like, especially the last eight or ten minutes of it, the events of which bear directly on this story. I hope this seems like a believable enough continuation of that episode.

As always, I have but one request: Review, please! That would really be a kindness. *wink*

Disclaimer: Doctor Who not mine. I'm Doctor Who's.

Liar

"Where is she?"

His face slumped, his big eyes turned all watery and blinkey. She understood what that meant, but she didn't want to accept that answer. No way.

Her voice was lower –a dangerous sign, he knew. "Where is she, Rory?"

His head bowed down, his hands gripping hers tightly. "I had to leave her behind." Silence descended upon them. He wasn't even daring to meet his wife's eyes. She watched him for a moment, then placed her hand at his chin and jerked his face up. His cheeks were wet and his eyes were more red and watery than ever. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I had no choice."

She regarded him for another long, silent moment. Then she shifted her hand to his cheek, where she wiped a tear away tenderly. "It wasn't your choice to make."

Rory swallowed a sob angrily. "Yes it was, Amy. You know it was."

She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his. "No, it wasn't. You had already made your choice." She brushed her lips against his, then leaned back. "Now where is he?"

They both knew who she meant, of course. She instantly tried to heave herself up, but Rory held her down. "Take your time, Amy," he began, but his wife cut in sharply, "For God's sake, Rory, I was just asleep –no lasting side effects." It was then that he got an inkling of her current mood. It would not bode well for him if he resisted Amy when she was in such a mood. So he helped her up.

She swayed on the spot for a moment, balancing herself. Then, with admirable poise, she marched down the stairs. And halted abruptly.

The Doctor was standing at the doorway, without his coat, his bowtie askew, his hands buried deep in his trouser pockets and his face forlorn.

Amy took one look at his solemn eyes, stomped right up to him, and slapped him, hard.

The Doctor reeled back, his eyes widening with shock.

"You bastard," she wheezed. "You lying, conniving bastard. How could you?"

The Doctor blinked rapidly, and glanced at Rory, almost as if in search of help. He wasn't getting any, though. Rory was staring stonily at him, his arms crossed over his chest.

He turned back to Amy. "I had to, Amy."

"No, you did not! You didn't have to lie! How could you lie?"

"I always lie!" –the Doctor snapped, his tired look morphing instantly into a sterner, colder expression. "Rule one, remember! If you still haven't realised that, then-"

"Shut up!" –Amy yelled. "Don't you dare give me all that crap, Doctor! All those stupid grand and sad and emotional bullshitty rules that you made up just to ruin-my-daughter's-life!" Tears were trickling down her cheeks now.

"I made up those rules to protect your daughter, Amy," the Doctor mumbled, his voice low. "You know it's true."

Amy glared at him. "I hate you."

The Doctor was struck speechless at the venom in her voice. Suddenly, they heard a loud thump, a sound which usually signalled that the Tardis had landed somewhere.

The Doctor blinked. "I didn't-"

But Amy had turned away and was going back up the stairs. She whispered a small "Thank you" to the console on her way, and strode out the doors which opened for her.

Which left the two men staring at each other. "Where are we?" –Rory asked suspiciously.

The Doctor ran a hand over his face. "I –I don't know. The Tardis brought us here. For Amy, I think."

"Right." Rory stood irresolute for a moment, then turned away too, following in his wife's lead.

"Rory, I-"

"Save it." The Doctor watched mutely while Rory walked away, too. When the doors banged shut behind him, he sighed and leaned against the corridor wall.

The lights in the Tardis dimmed, and a low hum echoed around him.

"Oh, don't give me that," the Doctor snapped, his eyes still covered by his hand. "I only did it because you couldn't have borne the paradox." The lights became a little brighter and the hum a little softer, mournful.

"Yeah, you've got it easy," he muttered. "They don't hate you."

The hum turned whiney, entreating.

The Doctor clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Leave me alone."

The sound became shrill, the lights turned painfully bright, and the walls shuddered.

The Doctor leant away from the wall and huffed. "Alright, alright! No need to get your compressors in a twist! I'm going." He adjusted his bowtie, huffed again, and marched up the stairs and out of the Tardis.

They were on a beach. It was sunset, but it was nothing like those on Earth. On the horizon behind them, another sun rose, and several moons glimmered in the pink and purple sky above them. He sighed softly and stroked the blue doors behind him. "You always know the right place," he murmured affectionately.

Amy sat in the sand just beyond the gently lapping waves, her bare feet touching the water, her boots thrown away haphazardly. Rory sat next to her and was in the process of untying his shoes. Neither of them were talking, but they both looked quietly content.

The Doctor approached them, then stopped, then took two more steps forward, then stopped again, his brow furrowed, his hands waving awkwardly.

"Where are we?" –Amy asked quietly, her eyes still on the shimmering sea.

When no answer came, she half-turned around. "I'm asking you," she muttered, her eyes meeting the Doctor's for an instant before looking away, her voice soft but flat.

The Doctor stopped flailing his arms. "The Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista," he said carefully.

She stirred. "You were going to bring me here."

The Doctor sighed and nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "A long time ago."

"Before me," Rory added. "I don't remember hearing the name."

"No," Amy said. "After you. Always after you."

Rory turned to his wife and gave her a small, but warm smile. The Doctor hoped she returned it.

Several seconds of silence passed while the Doctor still vacillated awkwardly behind the silent couple. Finally Rory turned to him and, frowning, gestured toward Amy. His meaning was clear.

The Doctor took a deep breath. He felt as nervous as having to face Weeping Angels. No, scratch that, more nervous than that. "Um, Amy?" She didn't respond. "Can I sit down?" His voice was so meek he surprised himself.

After a silent beat, she responded without looking at him again. "It's a free moon." A pause. "I think."

The Doctor was so relieved that he began in his usual lecturing tone as he settled on the sand, "As a matter of fact, the Fifth Moon, unlike the other seventeen moons of Sinda Callista, is-" He stopped abruptly at Rory's glare. "Right. Sorry. Carry on." He drew up his knees and encircled his arms around them. They were quiet for a very long time after that, watching the iridescent waves reflecting both the Northern Sun set and the Southern Sun rise. It was a heady, beautiful view.

The Doctor kept shooting glances at his friends, but neither of them spoke. Amy had rested her head on Rory's shoulder but her eyes were open. Rory had one arm around her and he squeezed her arm reassuringly every once in a while.

Then, suddenly, Amy spoke. "What happened to her?"

The Doctor started, but knew who she meant. "Like I said, she ceased to exist."

"When?"

The Doctor frowned. "I don't under-"

"She was there even while you rescued me –the paradox subsisted, or whatever you said. She should have stopped existing when you saved me but she didn't. So. When will she stop –being? Or does she have to die first, poisoned by those medicines?"

"No, no!" The Doctor spoke in a rush. "She ceased to exist the moment the Tardis disappeared. The paradox was sustained for that long only because of the Tardis. Once the temporal enhancers were gone, the timestreams re-aligned themselves and the paradox cleaned itself out."

A hollow chuckle burst out of Amy's lips. "'Cleaned out', that's a nice way to end. Much better than being shot, don't you think, Rory?" Neither of the men mistook her tone.

"It would've been painless," the Doctor began softly.

"That's a comfort." She snapped. The Doctor was once again at a loss for words, and Rory, even if he had anything to say, wisely held his tongue.

"You know," Amy began suddenly in a mock-cheerful voice that fooled no-one, "at first I thought it'd be weird. I mean, there'd be another me, and an older me no less, and I'd have to share Rory…" Her voice trembled slightly. "But then I remembered River and it didn't seem so bad after all. Because when River would come visiting, there'd be two of us. And old me really looked old enough to be River's mother… just about. We –she and her, and River I mean –could have done things together. Gone out together. Shopped. River could've introduced me –her as her mother and no one would say anything." She paused again to settle her voice which had been steadily shaking more and more. "That thought made it seem much better. I was happy then."

The Doctor wasn't even breathing. He couldn't imagine the strength of feeling at Amy must've experienced at such a thought. Even Rory was staring at her, his wide eyes screaming sadness.

"But then, I had reckoned without you. I'd forgotten what a sanctimonious bastard you are."

"Amy, I'm-"

"Don't!" Her voice was a low growl. "Don't you dare say it when you don't mean it."

The Doctor couldn't keep the indignation out of his words. "Of course I mean it! I am sorry, so very-"

"-are you, though?" Amy turned to him suddenly, her eyes wide and furious. "You were right, you do lie a lot. Are you ever sorry?"

The Doctor stared back at her. "How could you ask me that? Of course I'm sorry, I'm always sorry!"

She turned away again, shaking her head slightly.

"You don't believe me," he said incredulously. "Amy, do you seriously think –do you seriously believe me to be so… so heartless?"

She didn't respond for a moment. Then she shrugged. "I don't know. You were pretty heartless back then." She looked at him. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "You lied. You let us believe in things you knew we'd never get. You let us dream, and hope and plan for the future and then you took it all away. You killed her, Doctor. You killed me."

"Do you think I don't realise that?" The Doctor straightened up, not even trying to hide the anguish. "Do you think I don't know what I've done? I'm already a murderer and I added to my tally of kills today, and if that wasn't bad enough –it was you I had to add. Do you think I rejoice over that, Amelia Pond?"

Her composure broke at the sound of her full name. Tears finally escaped her eyes. "It –it was the one thing I was sure of," she whispered. "Sometimes you're a jerk; you trick, cheat and lie and you hide things you don't even have the right to, and sometimes you frighten me so much I want to run home screaming… but you were always there for me. And you always saved my life. Until today."

"Amelia," the Doctor's voice was trembling, "Amy. Please, please believe me. If I could save you both, I would have. I would have. Don't you see? I did save you, but I couldn't save you twice over. It had to be one of you."

Amy blinked, her eyes were dry again. "Then if Rory had carried her in before me… would you have locked the doors on me?"

The Doctor stared at her in stunned silence.

Only then Rory spoke up. "Amy. He didn't lock the doors on her. I did."

"I don't believe that," Amy said instantly, turning to look at her husband.

"It's true. It was my choice, I could've opened the door and let her in, but I didn't. He made it my choice."

"Well, there you go!" Angry Amy was back. "He made it your choice." She whipped round to face the Doctor again. "You'd already made your decision and was kind enough to make it Rory's 'choice' –when he already had no choice in the matter!" Her voice dropped. "Whether he chose me or her, Doctor, it meant killing me. How can you call that a choice?"

Rory's angry snarl echoed in the Doctor's head. 'You're turning me into you.'

The Doctor got to his knees so abruptly that both the Ponds started. "Fine, I accept it. I did it. I shouldn't have lied, but I did, and I –I killed you." He swallowed hard and continued, "But if I hadn't lied she –you wouldn't have helped us, and then I wouldn't have been able to save either of you. So I lied, and I saved one of you. That's enough for me. Make of that what you will." He stood up, then looked down on her, his expression softening. "You're right. I always lie, and trick and cheat. I've ruined your daughter's life. You have every reason to hate me and to never forgive me, Amelia Pond. But know this," he bent down and deposited a soft, warm kiss on her head, "I will always, always save your life. Even if I have to kill you to do it."

He strode back into the Tardis without looking back. When the doors of the Tardis shut behind him, the couple glanced at each other. Then Amy closed her eyes and sighed. "I hate this." Rory pulled her into his arms immediately. "I know. Me too."

They were silent and unmoving for a long while. Rory was starting to think Amy had nodded off when she spoke.

"Times like this, I feel like chucking the whole travelling project and just going… home." Amy murmured.

"Wherever that is," Rory quipped. "I'm pretty sure I've skipped enough months' rent for Mrs. S to toss all my stuff out."

"You really want to stay in those old rooms?"

Rory frowned. "What's wrong with those rooms?"

Amy shrugged. "Well, they were okay for a bachelor pad, I suppose, but now you've got a wife…"

Rory snorted. "Bachelor pad? Really, Mrs. S' old rooms?" He was gratified to see the corners of Amy's lips curve upwards. "Anyway, you were quite happy to move into the 'bachelor pad' before you married me."

"Yeah, well, now I have higher standards."

"Oh really? How high are we talking?"

"Well, we're sitting and wetting our toes on a beach on the Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista. It's a safe bet to say my standards are pretty high now."

"Crap."

Amy finally smiled and her face seemed to light up. "I love you, Rory."

Rory grinned and pressed his nose against hers. "I know. Love you too." A pause, and then, "D'you want to go back in?"

Amy nodded slowly, her nose rubbing his. "I'm tired."

"With good reason. C'mon." He pulled her to her feet and they walked hand-in-hand back to the Tardis, clutching their footwear with their free hands. When they entered, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen but the console screen was moving suspiciously.

He had been spying on them, of course.

Amy dropped her boots with a sigh. "Take me to him," she told the rotor. A light blinked on in one of the upper doorways. She turned to Rory. "You head to bed. I'll be right there." Rory scrutinized her expression intently for a moment; then, seemingly satisfied, he nodded. Amy padded up the steps and into the lit doorway, barefoot.

She found him in the first room the Tardis opened for her. It was the library. He was slouched on a couch, his feet dangling over one arm, gazing into a blazing fire in the huge fireplace.

He spoke first. "If you want to go home, Amy, I can do that. You've been with me for quite a while now, I'm sure you must be homesick."

She hesitated, then strode over to the couch, pushed his long legs off the arm and sat there. "I never said that."

He looked at her. "You told Rory-"

"See, this is why spying on conversations is pointless, something you and Mr. Stupid Face don't seem to understand. You never get the actual intent of the conversation if you only hear scraps of it."

"You did say it-"

"I said I feel like going home sometimes. It's a natural emotion. Today was… stressful."

The Doctor snorted humourlessly. "Understatement much."

"I'm trying to cut down the drama."

"Sorry I brought it into your life to begin with."

"Oi! Don't be flippant."

"Sorry," the Doctor said quickly. "Really."

Amy sighed. "I know."

The Doctor blinked, then sat up. "Wait, do you mean now, or-" Amy quelled him with a look. "I know you're sorry," she said evenly. "But I haven't forgiven you, and I don't think I ever will. But I know you're sorry, and I understand."

"So… you don't hate me?"

Amy smiled, somewhat sadly. "Of course I don't hate you, raggedy man. I just… don't like what you do sometimes. And what you make us do." She patted his hand gently. "You're a good man, remember? Don't give anyone reason to doubt it –especially yourself." The Doctor swallowed hard, and nodded. His eyes were immeasurably sad as he looked up at her. "I'm so sorry, Amy," he said again.

"I know." She kissed him on his head, just as he had kissed her. "Thank you." They smiled at each other, just as they always had –or perhaps not. The affection was the same, but the smiles themselves were harder, sadder, and older.

"Well, I'm off to bed. My centurion's arms await me." She slid off the couch gracefully. "You should sleep, too. Good night."

"Good night, Amelia." She grinned at the name he used, and turned away.

The Doctor's smile broke only when the library doors had closed behind her. He took a deep shuddering breath. What was he doing to them? He had to take them home. If they didn't have a home, he'd get them one. Easily done, that. Find a nice enough house –probably in London, they wouldn't want to stay in old Dullworth all their lives –buy it at an appropriate time in their names... nothing he hadn't done before.

But he had to take them home. He knew what would happen if he let them linger, he'd seen it hundreds of times, had his heart broken hundreds of times.

No more.

One last trip, and then – home.

A/N: For those who can't remember, the Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista was where the Doctor was supposed to take Amy instead of getting stranded in present-day London in the season 5 episode, The Lodger. (You know, the one with Craig and the deadly rot!)

When Amy says "...better than being shot, don't you think?" she is referencing the fact that both she and Rory have been shot to near-death before -Rory by the Silurian(his first 'death'), and Amy by plastic Rory.

Also, the ending here is in fact a rewrite of what I first wrote. In my opinion, the Doctor came off too easily in the episode, and in my story too, so I thought to make him more culpable in the story. Amy really hasn't forgiven him, and like she said, probably never will, but she is willing to forget. This story, thus, leads into the next episode, where Amy and the Doctor are completely fine with each other and, more importantly, where Amy absolutely trusts him to save her. I like to think his dialogue here -"... I will always save your life..." kind of strengthens Amy's faith in him for the next episode, which, in case you don't remember, is 'The God Complex'. Of course, this faith nearly kills her, and the Doctor at this point just wants her safe, and so takes her and Rory home.

One last thing -review, review! Please and thank you!